Shudder (Stitch Trilogy, Book 2) by Samantha Durante Page A

Alessa
swung the light in his direction. A case from a jewelry store lay
smashed on its side, various rings and baubles scattered across the
floor.
    Alessa turned to the other side,
eyeing the sporting goods store to her left. She noticed that the
window display had been stripped bare, a couple naked mannequins
tossed unceremoniously around a faux campfire. The rest of the
store boasted empty racks and solitary hangers, everything
perfectly, unnervingly still.
    She looked back to Isaac, who was
crouched and picking among the broken glass. She watched him slip
something into his pocket, but before she could ask what he’d
found, a loud bang echoed from down the hall ahead of
them.
    Isaac looked up at her at once and
they both froze, waiting. The tension of the silence clotted in the
air as Alessa held her breath in suspense.
    When no other sound came, Isaac stood
tentatively and inched over to Alessa, placing a gentle hand on the
small of her back and motioning ahead with a nod.
    She pointed the flashlight in the
direction of the sound and they set off with quiet footsteps in
search of its source.
    As they reached the department store
at the far end of the hallway, they paused, staring into the
blackness beyond the threshold. Alessa gripped the flashlight and
felt Isaac’s hand slide on top of hers, the pressure of his fingers
pointing the torch downward and flicking off the light with a
click.
    They were plunged into
night.
    Alessa could see the gleam of his eyes
in the dim moonlight shining through the skylights above. He
removed his hand from hers and placed a silent finger to his
lips.
    “ What?” she mouthed,
wondering why he was suddenly taking precautions to stay
hidden.
    He shrugged his shoulders. Just a
feeling, Alessa guessed. Maybe he was still spooked about the
creatures in the woods.
    They stepped tentatively into the dark
room and gave their eyes another moment to adjust. From what Alessa
could tell, it seemed the clothing racks had all been pushed to the
sides, leaving a big open space in the center of the
room.
    She took another few steps to get a
better look.
    And that’s when it hit her – an abrupt
slam in the face as if she’d pivoted into a wall of brick, and the
full-body crash of a tidal wave of pain.
    Alessa sunk to her knees, a
soul-crushing rush of sorrow and terror flooding her consciousness
and draining every ounce of strength from her body.
    Like a blow to the gut, the air raced
from her lungs and she crumpled over, her face smacking against the
cool linoleum of the floor.
    A thousand images flashed before her
eyes, people and places she didn’t recognize jumbled with thoughts
and feelings that she knew were not her own. Alessa squeezed her
eyes shut, her mind pressing outward against the onslaught
barraging her senses, but it was no use.
    The torrent pounded through her,
raging. Helpless against it, Alessa poured her concentration into
the only thing she could think to do – the simple act of
breathing.
    In, out.
    In, out.
    In, out.
    She drank each shallow breath and
waited in agony for the deluge to end.

13.
COMPREHENSION
    Isaac watched in horror as Alessa
crumpled to the ground and lay convulsing in the fetal position,
moaning incomprehensibly.
    Rushing to her side, he kneeled over
her and placed a protective hand on her shoulder as he scanned the
room, searching for the source of her agony. His first thought was
the creatures, but as far as he could tell, they were completely
alone. Besides Alessa’s trembling, no movement or sound broke the
stillness.
    Convinced of there being no immediate
danger, Isaac scooped up Alessa in his arms and carried her back
out to the hallway, where the glow of the early moon shone like
daylight compared to the blackness of the store. He ran his eyes
over her shaking body, searching for any signs of injury, but was
relieved to find her wholly intact.
    “ Alessa,” he whispered
into her ear, dropping to the floor and cradling her against his
chest.